Holzhauer Reprieve Puts ‘Judy’ Back On Top

In the week ending May 12, Judge Judy, which had been syndication’s No. 1 show overall for a modern record 40 straight weeks until Jeopardy began airing James Holzhauer-fueled episodes, clocked a 7.0 with more than 9.7 million daily viewers, easily outperforming Jeopardy, Feud and everything else.

By TVN Staff | May 21, 2019 | 12:32 p.m. ET.

Judge Judy regained first place in syndication in the session ending May 12 as ratings for Jeopardy without superstar contestant James Holzhauer declined 27% from its prior week’s 14-year high 8.3 live-plus-same-day national Nielsen to a 6.1. That dropped Jeopardy into a second-place tie with Family Feud.

Judy, which had been syndication’s No. 1 show overall for a modern record 40 straight weeks until Jeopardy began airing Holzhauer-fueled episode, clocked a 7.0 with more than 9.7 million daily viewers, easily outperforming Jeopardy, Feud and everything else.

Holzhauer, who has won the second-most games in Jeopardy history, was off the show May 6 until May 17 due to a two-week tournament and did not reappear until May 20 when he waltzed to win game number 23.

Holzhauer’s absence also slowed down Jeopardy’s sister show Wheel of Fortune, which declined 8% to a 5.9.

Moving up was Hot Bench, which climbed 5% to a four-week-high 2.3 and ranked as the third highest strip in daytime behind only Judy and Dr. Phil.

Phil gave back 7% to a 2.7. but had no trouble topping the talkers for an Oprah-like 140 weeks in a row.

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Live with Kelly and Ryan forged ahead 5% to a 2.2 and snared second place for the 11th week in a row over Ellen DeGeneres, which was unchanged at a 2.0.

Others making it into the top six of the 14-program chatfest category were: Wendy Williams, which rose 7% to a 1.5, Maury and Steve Harvey’s Steve, which held their ground at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively.

Among magazines, only Extra was in positive territory, racing ahead 10% to a five-week high 1.1. Entertainment Tonight led the genre for a second consecutive week with a steady 2.8.

Another show worthy of note was newcomer Chicago P.D., which shot up 11% to a 1.0 and surged 25% among women 25-54.

In the household rating rankings that follow, % change is from the previous week; * indicates a new season-high rating; ** indicates a new season low; NC indicates no change from the previous week; NA mean not applicable.

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